UK Parliament to vote on university fee rise

Parliament will vote on Thursday on plans to raise tuition fees for university students, an issue which has badly split the Liberal Democrats and sparked violent protests in London.

The bill is expected to pass in a vote on Thursday evening, but some members of the LibDems are expected to oppose it.

LibDem deputy leader Simon Hughes told BBC Newsnight on Wednesday he would at least abstain on the vote – but said he had been asked by his local party to consider voting against the plans and would “reflect” on that request overnight.

A handful of Conservatives may also rebel in the strongest challenge yet to the authority of the government which took power in May.

The government has made cutting a record peacetime budget deficit its priority and government departments have to reduce spending by some 19 percent over the next four years.

“The vote on tuition fees will be the first … acid test of how the coalition holds together,” said Ben Page, chief executive of pollsters Ipsos MORI.

The honeymoon is over for the coalition parties, he said, but securing recovery from recession is voters’ biggest worry.

“Tuition fees may be a storm in a teacup … the state of the economy is absolutely the issue,” Page said.

The government plans to allow universities in England to charge students fees of up to 9,000 pounds per year — almost treble the current limit, as it cuts state funding for higher education as part of an austerity programme.

University students and teenage school pupils have staged a series of protests in recent weeks, with hundreds of demonstrators arrested and a building housing the Conservative Party headquarters being attacked.

Protesters plan to gather near parliament on Thursday where student leaders and trade union bosses will address them before they hold a candlelit vigil at dusk, around the likely time of the vote.

ACCUSATIONS OF BETRAYAL

London police warned protesters that violent youths had hijacked recent protests.

“We will work with all protesters who want to peacefully protest and we acknowledge and respect their right to do so, but I would warn them to be aware of this violent element, which could harm them and their cause,” said Commander Bob Broadhurst.

Some commentators say the student protests could be a prelude to wider unrest as austerity measures start to bite and hundreds of thousands of jobs are lost in the public sector.

The Liberal Democrats have angered their many young supporters and have been accused of betrayal for breaking a pre-election pledge to oppose an increase in fees.

The party has seen its support slump since the election and some party critics fear it is losing its identity in coalition.

The coalition is certain to survive this squall, but Liberal Democrats may grow increasingly uneasy if they fail to win a referendum on changes to the voting system next May.

Source: Reuters